BOYNTON KEEPS BIG SIGN BAN

The City Commission on Tuesday stood by its decision 18 months ago to ban billboards and rejected a compromise that would have brought the city $50,000 a year for at least the next 20 years.

The compromise, voted down 4-1, would have allowed outdoor advertisers to move their billboards next to Interstate 95 and dodge a five-year deadline to pull the signs down.

"I'm not going to beat a dead horse," said Mayor Jerry Taylor, who thought the compromise was too sweet a deal to pass up. "In my heart, I believe billboards will be around for a long time. And this was one of the better revenue sources [for the city) I've seen."

In 1994, commissioners passed an ordinance to outlaw billboards, with the five-year phase-out provision for eight existing signs. But Taylor, who was elected in March, questioned whether the ordinance would survive a legal test if two billboard companies sued the city.

In June, representatives of Design Graphics and Ackerley Communications of Florida made Taylor an offer: They would remove the 14 billboards they have in or near the city, if they could move eight of them next to Interstate 95. In return, the companies would pay the city $50,000 a year.

In the beginning of the negotiations, Lynne Matson was the only commissioner against the arrangement. She said if the city accepted the deal, it would appear the city ordinances could be changed for the right price.

"I think this is unconscionable, and I'm not supporting it," she said at Tuesday's meeting.

Boynton Beach City Attorney Jim Cherof said the city's anti-billboard ordinance is legal, but it could cost the city as much as $100,000 in legal fees to defend it in court.

Taylor said that was too much taxpayer money to risk, so he wanted to accept the compromise. The unsightly billboards would be moved to industrial areas alongside I-95, and the city would be earning money, not spending it in court.

Commissioners Shirley Jaskiewicz and Sid Rosen said the money was enticing, but they decided to vote against compromise.

"When I first heard of this proposal, I had a knee-jerk reaction of getting income for the city," Jaskiewicz said. "But these signs are a blight on the highway, and I could not in good conscience vote for this."

So the billboards will remain where they are - at least for three more years, the city's deadline to tear them down. In the meantime, commissioners told Cherof to continue negotiations with the billboard companies to avoid a lawsuit.

"My only comment is I know I am willing to work with the city," said Ralph Basselino, owner of Design Graphics.